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Whetstone Handle in the Form of an Ibex Head
View through Harvard Museums
This whetstone finial is in the shape of the head, neck, and forelimbs of an ibex. The ibex has high, thin curving horns, with four raised bumps on the exterior top of each, that curve back to connect to the neck. Its pointed, leaf-shaped ears are separated from its head. The eyes are represented by a large raised circle with a slightly smaller raised circle for the iris with a smaller depression in the center for the pupil. It has a short, triangular beard under chin, which has a seam that gives it a forked appearance; there is no concavity under chin (in contrast to the other examples). There is a raised, ribbed area covering three-fourths of the neck, similar to the one on the breast. The molded forelimbs depicted on the socket are disproportionately small and spindly; the shoulders are ribbed, and there is a raised, ribbed boss on the animal’s breast. The socket does not flare toward the end. There are no holes in the socket for attachment to a whetstone, and the end of the socket seems to be as cast.
Department of Ancient and Byzantine Art & Numismatics
Nelson Goodman Weston MA gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums 1995.
Harvard Art Museums/Arthur M. Sackler Museum Gift of Nelson Goodman
Title: Whetstone Handle in the Form of an Ibex Head
Description:
This whetstone finial is in the shape of the head, neck, and forelimbs of an ibex.
The ibex has high, thin curving horns, with four raised bumps on the exterior top of each, that curve back to connect to the neck.
Its pointed, leaf-shaped ears are separated from its head.
The eyes are represented by a large raised circle with a slightly smaller raised circle for the iris with a smaller depression in the center for the pupil.
It has a short, triangular beard under chin, which has a seam that gives it a forked appearance; there is no concavity under chin (in contrast to the other examples).
There is a raised, ribbed area covering three-fourths of the neck, similar to the one on the breast.
The molded forelimbs depicted on the socket are disproportionately small and spindly; the shoulders are ribbed, and there is a raised, ribbed boss on the animal’s breast.
The socket does not flare toward the end.
There are no holes in the socket for attachment to a whetstone, and the end of the socket seems to be as cast.
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